Downtown Adventures: A Good Samaritan

Today, as we were walking to catch the bus to the library... a man in a business suit, who was driving  through the neighborhood, stopped and motioned for us to please wait. Hesitant, I paused our walk.  He then rolled down his window, and asked if KB was my daughter... I answered she was - curious to what he was getting at. He then said he's seen us walking in the neighborhood before... and felt God impressing upon him to give us money for lunch. He then handed me a $20 and drove off. Wow... I am in shock! Thank you, whomever you are!

Snow White and the 7.... what?!

Back at the end of May, KB (3½ years old) apparently watched the movie "Snow White" while over at her Yiayia & Papou's house.

When she got home, she excitedly told me ALL about it.  This was her synopsis of how the story goes...

"Da bootiful princess name Snow White ate da cimamim (cinnamon) apple from da mean lady... den she died, and all da little santas were sad... but it was all ok, because free (3) days later, she WOSE  AGAIN!!! Yay!!" ;)

So apparently it's the Disney version of Christmas and Easter all rolled into one... :-P

Oh, and recently the neighbor-boy had to go & correct her, that they are not Santas they are Dwarfs.... so now she calls them The Seven Dorks. ::roflol::

I love that girl!!

"Look mommy...  Look! I drewd dis batman jus for Keetza!"

Maniac Monday....

Ever have one of those days, where everything goes crazy all at once... and before you know it, the day is over, & you haven't stopped once to even get a drink or water, let alone sit down. Yeah, that was my day yesterday. And just so I could go back & have a good laugh later... I wrote it all down.

To the Anomalous & Aberrant ...

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”                   

    -Jack Kerouac

Anomalous -adj. - is different from what is usual or expected
Aberrant -adj. - unusual and not socially acceptable

Thursday Thoughts: Haiti

This photo is both heartbreaking and encouraging at the same time. --  Despite all the turmoil around, Renante Taris breastfeeds her son, Erikson at a hospital in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. --- Troops, doctors and aid workers continue to flow into Haiti as hundreds of thousands of quake survivors struggle to find water or food. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Jan. 12, leaving a multitude of people, injured, homeless, or dead.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) 

Our hearts & prayers go out to all those who were effected, by the devastation in Haiti. We have several Haitian-American families in our church (and know many who have ministered over there - including my own husband)... and the stories being relaying from "home" - not to mention the pictures we are seeing on the news - are just heartbreaking.  

Winter Wows!

Well, we only saw a little sleet in our county, Saturday...  along with lots of rain, and a high  climbing no higher than the very low 30's (with feel-like temps in the low-mid 20's).  Crazy!! A few counties north of us, did see a little snow, though....

Mini snowman - Dade City, FL

courtesy of: Mama Is

Baby it's *COLD* outside!!

Holy Cow! I know it's been unusually cold here.... but now they are predicting a possibility of snow flurries this weekend! Yeah, you heard right... SNOW!!! ~  Are you sure I am still in Southwest FL, Toto?!?

Friday Funnies...

Good stuff! I am crying I am laughing so hard. ~ absolutely Hilarious!

People for Change

This *excellent* article was written by my 16 year old brother-in-law, for our local Young Conservatives Blog. ~ Good job, Dave! I'm SO proud of you!!!

(courtesy of)

Lunchtime prayers...

Heart warming moment of the day...

(courtesy of)

Today as lunch approached, I became busy working about the kitchen... therefore not sitting down upon putting the food on the table, and KB in her highchair - as I normally do. I finally came to a stopping point, went and sat down, and began eating. A couple minutes later, I see KB solemnly set the corn chip she was munching on, down on her plate. Confused as to what was the matter, I look up just in time to watch her bow her head, close her eyes, and start babbling ever so sincerly. However, it wasn't until she finished - with the sweetest little "a-men!" you've ever heard - did I realize what was going on. In our family, we always pray a blessing over our food before we eat. But due to KB sitting down first, and me having my brain in too many places at once... we started eating without giving thanks. I asked her, "KB, where you just praying for your lunch?" She slowly nodded. Then she reached for my hand (we always hold hands to pray) and once again, quietly bowed her head - waiting for me to begin. With a lump in my throat, and tears in my eyes, I joyfully prayed with her, thanking the Lord for our food, the day... and for KB remembering what makes Jesus happy! :-) My heart is overwhelmed with love, joy, & gratefulness... for this generous, compassionate, and tender-hearted little girl with whom the Lord has blessed us. ~ I love my baby girl... ♥

A, B, C....

We are huge fans of Emergen-C packets.... esp (a half packet) for KB, as an occasional substitution to juice, or alternative to water. Well, recently, she started asking for it by name...

"Mama.... A, B! A, B, Mama!! "
Can you guess who has become aware of the alphabet lately?
~ Too cute for words!! ~

Sharpie...

Just in case I happened to turn my back for a second, you know, hypothetically speaking... I recently learned that by making a mixture of baking soda/a squirt of [natural] soap/and a little water.... enough to make a thin paste.... apparently works really well at taking green Sharpie off even the most creative, mischievous or artistic toddler's face/tummy/arms..... as well as a treasured piano....

Never a dull moment!!! :)

Climb every mountain...

As seen on my Facebook status, just a few moments ago....

Tiph is going crazy! KB seems to think she's a stinkin' mountain goat today, and is climbing on top of EVERYTHING!! - Just now, it was the piano!! - ahhh!!!

(Hand caught in the cookie jar- quite literally.... on the kitchen table, getting into the goodies the Jackson's gave us for Christmas...)

So yeah... everything I said to Shari the other night, about Jordan & Ryan's habitual climbing totally being a boy thing, and not having a bit of a problem with KB..... Well, I take it ALL back!! It just started this morning... and has only gone downhill (or should I say up) from there!! (And she's fast!!!) Just now, I found her on top of the piano (an upright no less! - so not exactly easy...), and earlier (more than once) it was [standing on] the kitchen table!! - Ahhh!!! And the worst part of it... even though the predicaments I find her in, are SO stinkin' hilarious (!)... I just can't laugh, or it will only encourage her to keep doing it!!! ~ Oh my.... what a life.... :-)

My Family Christmas...

Since we will not all be able to be together for Christmas... we took advantage of everyone being together, and did our celebrating the Saturday after Thanksgiving! After a fun day of fun in the sun, at the beach(!)... we made/enjoyed a yummy supper of Turkey & Dumplings (from scratch! - it's one of my favorites & it used up the leftover Thanksgiving turkey!)... went to Troyer's, a local Amish restaurant, for a pie dessert (blueberry for me!)... and then back home for gift exchange & pictures...

Click here to see our Gift Exchange Pictures...
Click here to see our Official (red) & Unofficial (blue)
Christmas Portraits...

Our Thanksgiving...

Finally getting around to posting pictures of our Thanksgiving! - It was a wonderful day, filled with family, laughter... and LOTS of cooking & yummy food! We are certainly blessed!

**warning: large picture post ahead!! :) **

The table...

Fall Is In The Air!

Though I won't ever see any of ^that^ Fall beauty around here.... I am always delighted when the sights & sounds of what is probably my favorite season, begin to give us just a small hint of it's absolute beauty. And surprisingly, it came early this year! The mildly cool, crisp autumn breeze has begun to blow... and the weather here has been just plain LOVELY!!! It's actually been cool morning & at nights (low 60's).... and it's been, sunny, mild, & just plain paradisaical during the day! I don't think it went above 82° *all* day yesterday - ok, so that probably still sounds pretty hot to you... but for us natives, it's *wonderful* I have comfortably had the windows open for the last two days... and the breeze is absolutely refreshing!

I love Fall! ~ I think I shall go out for a walk now....